1 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

If you thought the sky had fallen on New England after BillParcells quit as Patriots coach in late January, think again. Aslinebacker Chris Slade demonstrated right after Parcells lefttown, the 1997 Patriots may be even more determined and moredangerous than the team that won last year's AFC championship.

Four days after Parcells resigned to take over the Jets, Sladewalked into a press conference with his new coach, Pete Carroll.Slade's face glowed: He had just signed a five-year, $12.75million contract, and he had been told by Carroll that he wouldbe an every-down player. That stood in stark contrast to lastNovember, when Parcells removed Slade from the starting lineup,prompting the two-year starter, who was to become a free agentafter the season, to vow that he would not play another year forParcells.

"If they offered me $10 million a season and Bill was stillhere, I wouldn't stay," said Slade, who has had 29 1/2 sacks infour seasons with New England. "Maybe I shouldn't say that, butthat's how I feel."

Like many of his teammates, Slade didn't particularly care forParcells' hubris. But he has found a friend in Carroll, whobegan to woo the 26-year-old soon after being hired. Carroll'sfirst act, in fact, was to tell the front office that Slade mustbe re-signed. The new coach envisions Slade and defensive endWillie McGinest forming a dynamic duo on defense. "With Chrisand Willie, we have two guys on the edge who can fly up thefield and create a lot of problems," Carroll says.

And so a new era begins. Carroll's first head coaching stintlasted just one forgettable season, 1994, with the Jets. Forthe past two years he was the defensive coordinator for the49ers, an experience that seasoned him for his second go-aroundin a top job. Carroll is junking Parcells' read-and-react,two-deep zone defense to install a gambling, attacking stylethat will feature man-to-man coverage and five-man fronts. Theunderpinnings of this D will be Slade and McGinest, with thelatter playing the "elephant," a role out of the 49ers' systemin which a pass rusher constantly moves around on the line ofscrimmage, looking for a crevice through which to attack thequarterback.

In New England's enchanted run to the Super Bowl, the defenseallowed just five touchdowns in the seven games preceding themeeting with Green Bay. All the key players are back, andthey'll be joined by two new cornerbacks: free agent SteveIsrael, who will play in nickel situations, and Kansas State'sChris Canty, who showed immediately that he might be a stealwhen, on the first day of minicamp, he intercepted three passes.

With the scheme change and player additions, the Patriots'defense now appears ready to assert itself as a dominating one.That's a scary thought for the rest of the AFC, considering thatthe New England offense, which sent four players to the Pro Bowllast season, is already as potent as any around.

Of course, it's also one Drew Bledsoe injury away frommediocrity. Bledsoe, the fifth-year quarterback, is thefranchise. He had another impressive season in '96--his 27touchdown passes ranked third in the NFL--but he needs to showmore poise if the Patriots are to be a marquee team. Bledsoe wasthe 11th-rated passer in the AFC last season on third downs; hisrating in such situations was 65.0, almost 20 points off hisoverall number.

Carroll hopes to remedy this by stretching opposing defenseswith more deep routes--added for wide receiver Terry Glenn, wholast year set the NFL record for receptions by a rookie. Thelonger routes, in turn, should open things up underneath for BenCoates. The Pats tight end caught 84 passes in '95, but hisproduction dropped last season with the emergence of Glenn andwideout Shawn Jefferson. Look for Coates--who became thehighest-paid tight end in the league this off-season, with athree-year, $7.5 million contract extension--to be featured moreprominently in the offense, once again becoming Bledsoe'sfavorite third-down target.

Aside from Bledsoe, the most important player on this team maybe third-year back Curtis Martin, who at $260,000 this season isone of football's best bargains. Martin, 24, averaged more than1,300 yards and reached the Pro Bowl in each of his first twoseasons.

"The stage was set last year," says Carroll. "We're playing towin a championship." A hollow statement when uttered by mostcoaches, but, with the talent he has at hand, one that ringstrue for Carroll.

--LARS ANDERSON

COLOR PHOTO: DAMIAN STROHMEYER COVER [REGIONAL] Still Super? Drew Bledsoe and the Patriots eye another title shotCOLOR PHOTO: RICHARD MACKSON Slade is one Patriot who's happy to be parceling out hits for a new regime. [Chris Slade and opponent in game]

Pete Carroll is the eighth coach since 1961 to take over a teamthat had gone to the championship game (including the AFL titlegame) the previous year. Three of those coaches guided theirteams back to the title game in their first season.

At the end of the 1994 season, Todd Collins quit the Patriotsand returned to his Tennessee farm to raise chickens andturkeys. Though 24 and healthy, the 6'2", 245-pound linebackerhad lost the fire. "I don't know if you'd call it burnout," hesays. "But I was taking football for granted." Not anymore.Collins returned in '96 and emerged as the Pats' most athleticdefender. A trip to the Pro Bowl could be next. "I knew I wouldcome back eventually," says Collins. "It was almost a sin tothrow my talent and ability under a rock."

Before he became the premier postseason performer of his generation, the Patriots icon was a middling college quarterback who invited skepticism, even scorn, from fans and his coaches. That was all—and that was everything